Syrian government announces victory over IS in Deir al-Zur

BEIRUT. KAZINFORM The Syrian authorities on Friday announced the capture of the city of Deir al-Zur in the northeast of the country from the Islamic State terror organization, according to EFE .

State television, quoting military sources, said that the Syrian army had managed to take Deir al-Zur after killing a large number of IS fighters and destroying their weapons and equipment.

The broadcaster added that soldiers were clearing the area of mines and explosive devices left behind by the radicals.

On Thursday night, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the army had completely retaken this city, the former stronghold of IS in Syria along with Raqqa.

From July 2014, almost the entire city was under IS control, except for some districts and the military airbase, which remained in the hands of Syrian authorities.

 

The government offensive to retake Deir al-Zur began in September under the command of Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, nicknamed The Tiger, who led last year's campaign to retake Aleppo.

Despite the army's victory, there is still a presence of IS fighters in areas in the south and east of Deir al-Zur province.

With this defeat, IS has lost one of its most important strongholds after Raqqa, which they lost on Oct. 17 to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led armed alliance and ally of the United States.

The SDF is currently leading an offensive against IS in eastern Deir al-Zur province.